Kingdom of Stars
by lalaaaa
Summary: Jellal lived a life full of darkness and misery, for once he wanted something nice for himself. He wanted to remember his family. Lucy just wanted to move on from the abandonment of her family, for once she wanted to make Aquarius proud. She wanted to be strong. Never did these two expect that Stella would be the answer. Post Tartaros.
1. Part Three

**Six years, four months, and three weeks have passed since he regained his memories of his actions regarding the Tower of Heaven and was slammed with the feelings of guilt, shame, despair, and utter hopelessness. **

**Six years, four months, and two weeks have passed since he was saved from execution by Ultear and Meredy.**

**Six years, four months, and one week have passed since he formed Crime Sorcière as a way to try to atone for what he did. **

A young man was sitting on top of a rock that was on top of a cliff, giving him a beautiful view of the nature below. He had just taken down a dark guild with his partner, and was waiting for the other members of the guild to finish their missions and come to their meeting place. He did not like remembering his past, but it was necessary to remember. _In order to never forget his sins_.

**Fifteen years and eight months have passed since he was "possessed" by Zeref and was manipulated to continue building the R-System**

**Fifteen years and six months have passed since he began learning to master dark magic, trying to taint the natural lightness of the magic he was born with.**

**Fifteen years and three months have passed since he caught and killed a rune mage who realized his plans. His first kill and unfortunately not his last. **

While there are memories he wished never happened and he desperately wanted to forget. There were memories he desperately wanted to remember. The memories that did not include his time as a slave and being tortured. The memories that did not involve him being a dark mage and being psychotic. He wanted to remember before all of that, the memories of his family. The memories that have been nothing but voices and silhouettes of people.

**Sixteen years have passed since he woke up in cell with magic shackles on his wrists and ankles. **

**Sixteen years have passed since he woke up not remembering anything but his name. **

**Sixteen years have passed since he was taken away from a family and a home he does not remember. **

He knew he did not deserve nice things. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder who are the vague voices and shapes. He couldn't help but yearn for the vague voices and shapes. He couldn't help but long for a clearer image of the vague voices and shapes. So, when the opportunity came for him to learn more about his past, he couldn't help himself and took it. The ache inside him for once was not because of guilt, but rather a _craving_. A carving to find the vague voices and shapes.

He, Jellal Fernandes, wanted to find his family. Moreover, he wanted to start a new part of his book. Part Three.

**Three months, two weeks and six days have passed since she sacrificed her first friend and her mother's dearest spirit.**

**Three months, two weeks and five days have passed since Fiore's strongest and most rambunctious guild, Fairy Tail, disbanded.**

**Three months, two weeks, and four days have passed since she was left all alone by her best friend, her team, her **_**family**_**.**

The young woman took a deep breath as she grabbed the keys that were hanging on her hip for a sense of security. Said keys glowed with small soothing light that sent her a calming aura and engulfed her with the feelings of love and support from her spirits. She let out a small gentle smile as she grabbed her keys closer to her heart to signal her appreciation and love for them. She turned to look at the destroyed city that was slowing rebuilding, the city that had been her home for the past couple of years. Magnolia. The city that held most of her fond memories, was now just a representation of her broken heart that had new cracks and old cracks that either did not fully heal, or just never began to heal in the first place. Of course, there were also some cracks that were slowly healing. Slowly but surely.

**Two months, three weeks, and four days have passed since she shed her last tear over Fairy Tail, over her friends, over ** _**Natsu**_**. **

**Two months, three weeks, and five days have passed since she made the decision to get stronger so that she would not be put in the position she was put in during Tartrous, and researched extensively the whole day, with the help of her spirits, on how to accomplish her goal. **

**Two months, three weeks, and six days have passed since she began training day and night to expand her magic and power to its full potential. **

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she exhaled, her eyes opened and were full of determination. She grabbed the only bag she was going to take with her and swung it onto her back. After one last glance to the city behind her, she turned around forward to begin her journey.

**One month, six weeks, and two days have passed since she sold her furniture and gave her apartment key to the landlady, in order to move in completely into her training camp spot.**

**One month, four weeks and five days have passed since she was able to complete her first solo mission in the mountains, and she did not lose any of the reward money. **

**One month, one week and one day have passed since she was finally able to complete her "survival training" and learned how to be able to live off what the forest provided her, without relying on anything else but nature.**

She softly looked down to her keys that were still being held against her heart and smiled at the new additions to her family, her silver collection was swiftly growing and would continue to grow until she had them all. She looked up to the clear sky and tried to use the peaceful image to quell her arising anxieties. She traced over each of her thirteen gold keys, lingering a little longer on the broken one.

**Seven weeks and six days have passed since her dear friend Yukino gave her keys to her. After arguing back and forth and a lot of tears being shed she finally accepted the keys. Yukino was right. Being a Celestial Mage is like having a target on your back for evil world domination magic needed more commitment and devotion than other magics, but so did having a baby. Yukino had the right to want to have a more peaceful life, without fearing of her being kidnapped or her child being used against her. **

**Five weeks and three days have passed since she found out from her spirits that her dear friend's key was going to be reformed in the near future. **

**Two weeks and four days have passed since she finally stopped using her connections and networking skills to keep tabs on her guildmates. She threw the map that had multiple pinpoint locations into the dying fire in front of her and watched as the fire burned it all before dying out. **

She had no obligation to be the glue that was trying to hold them all together. If everyone was going to focus on themselves, so would she. She needed to work harder and make sure that she becomes the best Celestial Spirit mage as she can be for the definite reunion with her spirit. She was going to make Aquarius proud.

**Three days have passed since she made the decision to leave Magnolia's forest in order to travel and look for keys and information on ways to expand her abilities.**

**Two days have passed since she packed everything she needed from the camping spot that she had been calling her home for the last couple of months.**

**One day has passed since she went to the abandoned guild hall that once represented the pride of Magnolia. Now it was a building that was barely standing, waiting for its owners to reunite and bring back its glory. Instead of wallowing over its current appearance, she simply left a letter at the bar, that held a small pink Fairy Tail shaped crystal*. The crystal was not only proof of her removing her insignia, but also a symbol of her closing a chapter in her life. Knowing that Fairy Tail would eventually come back, it was also a message that her former guild mates would understand once they saw it. **_**Goodbye**_**. **

She began walking away from Magnolia and onto the new book part of her life. What mattered was not the past, but today. Today she will begin a new part of her story. She did not need Fairy Tail or even Natsu to go on adventures.

Lucy Heartfilia can make her own adventures and today is only the preface of the new part of her book. Part Three*.

***End***

1*: In this story, once you remove your guild insignia a crystal is formed from the tattoo's magic, it forms a crystal version of the mark you had. It's meant to be a reminder of your time at the guild, however, Lucy left hers at the guild.

2*: Part 1 is Lucy life pre Fairy Tail, Part 2 is Fairy Tail, and Part 3 is post Fairy Tail

Hello, Hello. Welcome to my fanfic The Kingdom of Stars! This story will be featuring my extended Uverse of Stella. I have always felt that Lucy should have a bigger connection to Stella, since it is a kingdom named after stars. Thanks to Desna's Pradeshverse, I was inspired to make my own world in Fairy Tail. In just a couple of chapters you will be introduced to my version of Stella, meet new people (my babies), and see how I imagine Jellal's background and history is. I hope you enjoyed this little preview and let me know what you think!

_~Lala_


	2. Caelum

Lucy Heartfilia was standing in front of her childhood home, the once filled with laughter that later turned to a lonely mansion. The home she once looked at disdain, was now a home she looked at with fond memories. However, she was not here to reminisce. It had been two months since she embarked on her new journey, and almost six months since the guild disbanded. She was on the way to Caelum for a job that requested her specifically. Master Sting, had informed her that the requesters were trying to find a way to contact her, but couldn't. Hoping they could get to her through her once celestial mage friend, they contacted Sabertooth, who then contacted her through their communication lacrima. Something, both her dragon slayer kins and their dear mate Yukino instisted that she have if she wanted, and she quotes, 'to be a fucking female version of Gildarts but without the fun stuff like sex.' To be fair, it was Sting who said that, but his dear mates did not disagree with him. She was on her way to the mansion when she got the call from Sting, she had told him to accept the job on her behalf and that she would leave for Caelum tomorrow. She was at the manor to see if she could find anything about her magic through her mother's things. She felt stupid for not thinking about it before, but her mother was once one of the strongest celestial spirits mages in the world, so Lucy was now here to see if she left any references behind that could help her with her goal.

Walking through the dusty halls, Lucy could practically see the memories of her child self. Running and playing, getting scolded at, laughing with the help, and her moments with her parents in every room she passed through. She broke out from her happy memories once she got to her mom's study. After her mother's death, Lucy could never bring herself to enter the room she was now facing. The room that had held the best memories with her mother, and standing inside of it now she was assaulted by those memories. The nights where she would sleep underneath the desk of her mother as she did her work. That same desk was used to draw countless drawings of the constellations she loved so much. The big window, where her and her mother sat, as she listened to the stories of the stars that Layla would tell her every night. The rug where she would practice her magic with her mother guiding her through everything. And even the little desk in the corner that her mother had installed so Lucy could do all her studies with her.

Shaking off the feelings of grief, she proceeded to her mother's huge personal library that seemed to have endless shelves of books. Needing the help and knowing the two spirits would appreciate being in their late master's office that also held many memories for them, she pulled out two keys and simply called out their names, "Capricorn, Cancer" and within mere seconds the two spirits appeared.

"What can meeeh do for you, Lucy-sama," her ever loyal spirit said with a small bow.

" Would you like a cut- ebi" the crab spirit asked in his usual pose.

Lucy simply smiled at them, and watched their reactions as they realized where they were. The two spirits looked shocked at first and then small smiles appeared on their faces as they reminisced about their past in the room.

"Cancer, Capricorn. I need your help to find any magical texts you can find in mama's study so I can store them and use them in my training journey," Lucy gently said. The two spirits nodded, and thus the three went to work. For the next three hours, the three passed their times by talking about the fond memories they had with Layla Heartfilia. After being done and gathering what they were looking for, the two spirits left with the promise of being called later for training and hair styling.

Lucy sat down on her mother desk to rest for a bit before leaving for Caelum, sighing from exhaustion, she leaned back on the chair and looked up the decorated ceiling of the office. Before she could get lost in the work of art, Lucy felt one of her keys glow by her side. Looking down, she was shocked that the key of the astronomical sextant, Sextan, was glowing. Sextan was a spirit who helped summoners locate other keys, and it had helped her alot to expand her own collection. However, she was not expecting it to glow in her mother's office, she began hastily looking through the drawers of the desk. Opening the top left drawer, Lucy saw an envelope with her name written on it with the familiar handwriting of her mother. Opening it with shaky hands, she pulled out a letter and began to read:

_My dearest Lucy, _

_If you are reading this letter, it means that my time has come and I am no longer with you. My little star, you are the brightest and most beloved being in my life and it pains me I could not stay with you longer. However, I know there is an adventurer inside of you and that nobility was not made for you. You are just like me in that sense, I want to be able to provide a way for a new journey once you are ready to take it, because deep inside sooner or later you will want a new journey. I know this will come as a shock for you, but I am originally from the magical island of Stella, Kingdom of the Stars. I spent all my first sixteen years of life there, practicing magic and being with my family. However, duty called and I had to collect all the zodiac keys and open the gate. I do not regret leaving, it was a new adventure for me and it was a magical one too, that resulted in meeting the love of my life Jude and giving birth to my little Star. Unfortunately due to recent events, Stella had become more closed off and it was not the once open kingdom it was and thus I could not visit and introduce you to my side of the family. But, this is my way of giving you a chance at love, family, and your own magical adventure. Stella will open the doors for you once they know who you are, after all the Heartfillia connection to the Royal family is strong. In the envelope you will find how I will be able to provide you with the way to Stella, where I know you will shine like the bright star that you are. My little star, never forget that my love you for is as eternal as the stars and never forget: ad astra per aspera. _

_With all my love, _

_Your Mama, Layla. _

Finishing the letter, Lucy felt her cheeks dampen from the tears that had been let loose as she was reading. Looking deeper into the envelope Lucy saw three silver keys, she pulled them out and recognized them immediately: Carina, Vela, and Puppis the three spirits that created Argo Navis, the ship.

Lucy had her back to the wall, hidden with the shadows that were being provided with the help of her spirit Corvus. She had two lacrimas in front of her that each had a different scene showing up on them. One showed her spirit, Musca's, point of view, while the other showed the master of illusion and camouflage, Mamajek the spirit of the Chameleon. The job was simple, take out the dark guild, Night Treasure. The reason why a celestial mage was needed was because some of the members had the magic of control, which apparently, after some research, only affects humans and not spirits and thus this is why Lucy was now observing for the perfect moment to attack by keeping on eye on the inside and outside. Finding the perfect moment she was waiting for, Lucy pulled out another three silver keys. She quietly whispered the names of the three spirits, "Open: Lepus, Vulpecula, Cygnus!"

She watched as the spirits materialized and as they immediately began taking action. The members went from being surprised, to feeling cocky, and the back to surprise when they saw their magic not working. That's when she pulled herself from the shadows, and let Corvus join the battle as well. Not wanting to miss the action, Lucy called on Libra's star dress and pulled out Scropio's key. She raised it to the sky and chanted: "Key Extension: Scorpio!" the key was soon replaced with a giant fan. The members who heard her chant, turned to her and dashed for an attack hoping to take out the summoner as soon as possible. As soon as they dashed, Lucy used her fan and made two giant slashes, sending all the members to the wall. Very quickly she used Libra's gravity magic to forcefully keep the members she flew into the wall slammed to the wall, and members who her spirits defeated slammed onto the ground. She pulled out another silver key and called for Andromeda, the Chained Princess, who used her magic sealing chains on the dark guild members. Lucy then waited for the police force to show up and take the members away to their fate.

"Lulu-chan, that was too easy don't you think?" Andromeda gently giggled. Andromeda was one of the most beautiful spirits there was. She had platinum blonde hair, that adorned a flower tiara. She wore an elegant, form fitting, white dress. True to her name as the chained princess, she had silver chains around her upper body and gold chains around her wrist and ankles. Andromeda was a soft-spoken, nice, and polite spirit, who loved Lucy and loved shopping with her.

Before Lucy could reply, Corvus seemed to appear from the shadows, and turned to two the girls, "I believe that our princess has become too strong. Why you may ask? Well that is because she has been dedicated and serious about her training." Crovus was a serious and no play spirit, who loved to answer questions, to the point where he would ask questions, just to answer them. He was a skinny, tall, and pale male with balck hair and eyes (well, eye because his right eye was covered with his hair), who wore a black ripped out long sleeve shirt and black pants.

"No one asked, Corvus" Vulpecula teased. Vulpecula was a young girl who looked like a humanoid fox. She loved to tease, trick, and be sneaky, and Crovus was her recent favorite target.

"Please stop teasing him, Vulpe." The elegant voice of Cygnus came from behind her. The spirit dressed like an elegant ballerina, and was known for her grace, formality and beauty. That is until you bring out her dark side.

The howling laughter of Lepus came from behind them. He was in his human form as opposed as the normal huge wolf form, which was a tall and buff man, who had a booming voice, "Cygnus, stop being so stiff and enjoy the job well done, even if it was easy"

Lucy only shook her head at her spirits antics and enjoyed their banter and company until forces came to capture the guild members.

She was feeling embarrassed for all the praise she was getting, with how simple the job was she didn't feel like she deserved it. However, she still very much appreciated the reward, a silver key. It was the spirit of the hero, Perseus. Lucy had been looking everywhere for the key hoping to reunite her blonde chained princess with her lover. Perseus's key was very similar to Andromeda's key, silver with platinum wrapped around it signifying its royal status and its rarity for a silver key. The reasons for continuing with the job before leaving to Stella were very simple. She had accepted it before finding her mother's letter, the reward and most importantly Caelum had the closest port to Stella. Instead of taking over 3 months to get there, it would now only take her a month of sailing.

Later in the future, Lucy will always justify the shriek that came out of her, after all she wasn't expecting to hear another voice in her mind to shout 'Tink'.

Cobra was still laughing at the glaring blonde, Jellal was being awkward as usual, Meredy was trying to stop her giggling not wanting to anger the blonde further, and Midnight was being boring as usual.

"Erik, if you don't stop laughing in the next five seconds, I will Urano Metria your ass into space," his spitfire blonde kin seethed at him. He calmed down knowing the pain that would come from that because he had felt it through Angel's memory. Seeing him calmed down she relaxed before turning to Jellal and Meredy with a questioning face.

"What are y'all doing in Caelum?" The blonde curiously asked.

"Here to take down a dark guild who recently had been going international with their terrorist attacks" Meredy cheerfully replied.

"What Raspberry forgot to mention is that we're also here to discover Blueberry's mystery past." Cobra snickered as he saw Jellal blush and Meredy giggle again. Lucy looked more confused with the answer and this time it was Midnight who replied.

" All of us remember how we got to the Tower of Heaven except our leader over here and apparently there's an old lady who has a memory ritual that gives people the hint they need to rediscover their past." Midnight answered the unasked question with a bored tone.

"Where is this lady?" Lucy asked them still curious about their situation.

"The same village Cobra found you at, but no one wants to tell us who she is because they don't trust us." Jellal spoke up with a dejected tone, surprising the blonde that he spoke up.

Lucy gently smiled at him, "Lucky for you, I'm their current favorite person, come on let's go."

Suddenly, Lucy had become Jellal's favorite person.

Jellal was sitting in front of the fire with his eyes closed. He had all sorts of magical rocks surrounding him in a circle and multiple markings on his body.

"You must drink this potion and keep your eyes closed, do not open them until the ritual is over if you want this to succeed." The old lady strictly told him as she threw a crystal into the fire.

Jellal looked at his companions for one more time, who nodded at him, before he turned to woman and did as he was told. The woman began chanting in a language which he could not recognize while thumping on the ground. He could feel the fire getting stronger every time she finished the chant. The louder she chanted and harder she thumped, the bigger the fire grew. Just as he thought the fire was going to consume him, he heard the woman scream the last word of the chant before the fire was gone. Kind of confused on why he heard Lucy gasp, he opened his eyes. The crystal had levitated the ashes of the fire and from the ashes, a signal word was written.

_Stella. _

***END***

**Hello, Hello! I am back with another chapter, I hope my excitement continues and fuels my motivation so I can continue to give fast updates!**

**Hope you like this chapter and please let me know what you think!**

**~Lala**


	3. The Journey Part 1

Jellal was sitting on the deck of Lucy's ship spirit thing, thinking about everything that had occurred in the past twenty-four hours. After the ritual with the woman was completed, Jellal was stunned. Stella? Really? The most closed off kingdom in all of Ishagar turned out to be the place he needed to go to for answers. In all honesty, if he really thought about it though he was not that surprised. Being a Heavenly Body magic user, and the only one in Fiore to his knowledge, is it really surprising that he was connected to the kingdom that was literally named after the stars? Unfortunately, not long after receiving his hint, Meredy sadly informed him that she would not join him on his journey.

_**Not that long ago...**_

"Meredy, you have been the closest person to me for almost a year now, and my partner for six! What do you mean you're not coming?" The disgruntled blue-haired man was desperately trying to understand the young woman's stance. She was the one who forced him past his guilt and convinced him to seek a hint about his missing past. Had it not been for Meredy, he wouldn't be having this opportunity.

"Someone needs to continue with our guild's mission Jellal," seeing the man flinch in guilt, the feisty woman flicked his nose, and used her rare serious tone with him, "and don't you dare even feel guilty about leaving Jellal Fernandes! I want this for you more than you do, you deserve to have one good thing for your life, jeez. Besides, Ultear is my family and she's in Fiore. It's your turn to try to have a chance at one." She had smiled with such a genuine smile, that any argument that could have formed immediately left his head.

Macbeth and Erik both stated they wanted to join him, getting ready to protest, they each cut him off with their own arguments.

"Leader-chan, my code-name was literally Midnight, I am going. Besides I wanna know what it feels like to sleep underneath the stars of Stella," Macbeth, shrugged as if he did not just admit he wanted to visit a country to experience a nap underneath the stars.

"Blueberry, I have an opportunity to be with the first kin I have ever made, and she's going there so I am going," Erik looked at him daring to try to make him stay away from the blonde. He couldn't do that, that would be very hypocritical seeing as he was literally throwing away everything he was doing for a chance to have a family. Besides, if Erik was willingly saying he wanted to stay near the blonde out loud, Jellal had a feeling that Erik was going not only because he wanted to be there for the blonde, but also because he needed to be there for her.

Jellal sighed, "That's fine and dandy, but you do realize that Stella is the most closed off kingdom in all Ishgar, no ship will agree to take us and it will take months to find a trading ship who is going in that direction."

That's when Lucy, who somewhere during the conversation came closer to Erik and cheerfully piped up, "Actually, I have a way to get to Stella and would love for y'all to join me!" Jellal was really suspecting at the moment that Lucy was really trying to become his favorite person. After a tearful goodbye from Meredy, who only stopped crying when Lucy informed her that she had the spirit of the dove, Columba, who was a messenger bird and thus everyone could stay in touch. Seriously, Lucy Heartfilia was really trying to become his favorite person, because he could wholeheartedly say that he was going to miss his younger pink haired best friend.

Jelllal did not know what he was expecting after getting to the port late at night. They had spent the previous couple hours rushing to buy a couple things for the trip before all the shops closed down. Yet, Lucy pulling three silver keys and throwing them into the sea and chanting was not it.

"I call upon the the spirits of keel, the deck and the sails, Carina, Puppis and Vela, come forth and return to your original form, Argo, the ship!" When Lucy finished her chant, a giant ship appeared on the water. While Jellal was very grateful to the blonde and was very impressed, he still had a lot of questions.

"Lucy, not that I do not appreciate what you are doing or think little of you, but I highly doubt any person can keep a gate constantly open for a whole month, no matter what type of key it is." He softly commented, not wanting to offend the blonde who has been nothing but helpful. However, he was shocked that instead of feeling offended, she laughed.

"Of course not! Here follow me and let me show you how Argo truly operates!" Lucy said with her still cheerful tone. The three men followed her as she led them to what looked like a Captain's room. Inside the room, looked like a typical Captain room, however Jellal immediately noticed the giant sphere that looked like a lacrima, and the three orbs surrounding it. The giant sphere was filled with what looked like blue liquid. Lucy went towards the sphere and placed her hand on it, before turning to the three confused me.

"This bad boy here represents Argo's fuel energy, it typically can last anywhere from three days to a week before it needs to be refilled depending on sailing conditions. To refill it, you simply need to transfer magic to it and since there's four of us, we can take turns!" Lucy finished her explanation with the same cheerful tone she has been using the whole night.

Jellal could really kiss the woman right now if he was that type of man, before he could say anything, Erik had already opened his mouth, "Yo, Tink. that's great and all, but you haven't explained the three orbs." Before Lucy could reply, three new voices popped up startling the three unsuspecting males.

"Yo Captain and friends!" greeted a male laid back voice.

"Captain Princess! It's good to see you so soon after the formation of our contract!" the greet came from a chipper female voice.

"Captain Lucy-sama," a stiff deep male voice greeted the blonde.

Lucy giggled, "Hello, Puppis! Vela, it's always a pleasure, but is the princess really necessary? And, Carina, loosen up! Don't worry they're my friends not enemies," she greeted them back, before refocusing her attention to the still shocked males, "Well, I hope that answers your question! The orbs represent my spirits' souls. Any other questions before we take off?"

This time it was Macbeth who spoke up, who raised his hand before continuing in his typical monotone voice, "Just basic things really. Any plans for food? Where's the bathroom? And most importantly, where are we sleeping?"

Lucy nodded before answering his questions, "The ship is stocked with non-perishable food which could be found in the kitchen. There is also a fully functioning bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower. Bedroom cabins are also included, and there's enough for each of us to have our own. All of these can be found down the stairs that are behind me." She pointed to the stairs, before turning back to them with a smile, "Now, is everyone ready to sail!"

It is 100% percent certain that Lucy Heartfilia was Jellal's favorite person.

Erik watched as his little kin leaned on the edge of the ship and used Aquarius's magic to make shapes in the water. He was one of the very few people who knew what happened, and it all happened when he caught her in her training forest after completing a mission. Other than trying to use her life force to destroy the world, the two never had really interacted before. But, he could hear the agony of her soul from miles away. The painful, bitter, and lonely thoughts did not suit that girl that was deemed as Light of the Fairies. Normally, he wouldn't be concerned in trying to seek the owner of the thoughts, but the thoughts weren't the only things that caught his attention. The sheer amount of magical powers that were coming out of her as she meditated attracted him like a moth to a flame. The pureness and lightness of her magic amazed him, and it secretly comforted him. Her aura was the most soothing one he had ever felt and he wanted nothing more but to be around her to experience more of it. He could feel his dragon soul was feeling the same as him before he could help himself, he had growled, "_kin._"

Erik quietly chuckled, as he remembered how his growl startled her into accidentally unleashing all the magic she was building up around her towards him. Had he not been quick enough, he probably would've been gravely injured.

"_What the hell Tinkerbell!" His shout was mixed between 'omg I could've died' and 'holy shit that was impressive' _

'_I should be saying that you Viper!' she screamed back at him, still clutching her heart from the shock. _

Erik fondly remembered how after calming down, she awkwardly invited him to eat with her. He never expected Lucy Heartfillia to be sassy, sarcastic, and a hilarious person. They spent the whole night bantering, laughing, and talking before going to sleep. Erik frowned, as he remembered how he found out about Aquarius. He had been trying his best to visit as much as he could, and help her with her training. He was in the process of teaching her how to form mental blocks because she was growing frustrated about him being able to know what she was going to do when they spared, even though she found a strategy of overthinking about everything, which hurt his brain and head if listened to her thought process for more than two minutes. Erik had decided that day to surprise visit her and had even found a silver key for her. His happy mood quickly turned into horror and fear when he found Lucy's magic going haywire as she screamed in anguish. She was over using her magic to the point of being life threatening. He quickly acted and forced the blonde out of her trance, by interrupting her magic flow with his. When her magic disappeared, he held her shoulders and demanded an explanation for her idiotic action.

'_I need to get stronger, I need to make sure it never happens again' she cried. _

For the first time, she allowed him into her memories and he saw everything. Her one sided fight with three demons, her sacrifice of her most treasured spirit, being forced to push her grief to fight one of the nine demon gates, and worst of all the abandonment of her friends, even those who called themselves kin. Erik could do nothing but squish her against him and let her cry.

Shaking himself from the past, Erik approached the spaced out blonde, "Earthland to Tink, don't you think it's time to come back now?"

Lucy was startled out of her thought when she heard Erik voice, she turned to him with a teasing smile, "You really need a rattle, if you're going to keep sneaking up on me like that."

Erik jokingly rolled his eyes at blonde, "Not my fault you love to daze off and not pay attention to your surroundings Tink."

They stood next to each other in comfortable silence for a bit before Erik decided to make small talk, " you know when you informed of your training journey, I thought Bosco would be the first place. Seeing that you know who is there." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Expecting a blush and maybe some stammering, he instead saw her tense and sigh. Welp, so much for small talk. "While I would love nothing more than to see Cristoff again, and visit the Academy, Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe are also there at the moment and I don't want to see them any time soon."

She was mad, betrayed, and bitter at them. Laxus, had self-proclaimed himself as her older brother, marked her as kin, and had even given her one of his beloved coats. Yet, after Master Mackrov's worst announcement, he and his team were the first to leave without thinking about her twice. So much for being fucking kin. What good is having an older brother if they're not there when you need them the most.

Freed and Evergreen had both been her very good friends. They both claimed to value her friendship. Freed had always told her that she was one of the first to open her arms to them after Fantasia and that he would be forever grateful, especially because she still welcomed him when came out to her as gay. He was a fellow academic, and always loved talking about her magic with her. He was always so fascinated and curious, and Lucy always did her best to satisfy that curiosity. They shared books, knowledge and even research. Heck, he had become her editor after she allowed him to also read her novel for feedback. Lucy was Evergreen's first real female friend, and they went on countless shopping sprees, bath trips, and bars together. They had many boy talks and Lucy even got her closer to the other Fairy Tail girls by taking her to all the sleepovers. She couldn't fault the too much though, Freed was loyal to the bone to Laxus and Evergreen was a woman in love, but that doesn't mean she wasn't hurt by their actions.

Bickslow hurt the most though. They were supposed to be each other platonic soulmates. Bix was always the one for soul to soul conversations. She could talk to him about things she couldn't bring up to her team. He was even the reason she stopped tying so much weight on her virginity. He taught her how pleasure is pleasure and that virginity was a social construct meant to control women. That it is ok to only want to have sex with people who are special to you, but it also ok to have sex just for pleasure. '_Cosplayer, the clit alone has 8,000 nerve endings and you wanna believe that pleasure isn't an important factor in sex?' _Lucy had blushed so much at his 'for real' tone, before defending her point of view. Her ex had been awful in bed, but she went with it because she thought she was in love and that is what people in love did, turned out it was just an infatuation and her dumbass ex was dick who didn't know how to use his dick. To be fair, he completely proved his point when he introduced her to his brother Cristoff Pradesh.

Cristoff Pradesh, was a Bosconian Lunar Dragon Slayer, who happened to be one of the most attractive people she has ever met. Towering her at six feet and four inches, with silk long black hair, and beautiful blue eyes that silver fleck like stars in them. He had come to Magnolia to visit his little brother Bickslow, who he had not seen since disappearing for seven years. Due to the nature of their magic, they had connected immediately, and she had to admit that she had the biggest crush on him. When Bix had told him about her bad views on sex, he made it a goal to change her mind. And boy did he succeed. His dragon hadn't decided on mate or kin before he was set to leave, so they decided not to pursue a monogamous relationship, but to see what the future brings. Going to Bosco could have probably helped with that, but she did not want to deal with the cons: Laxus and his team. That had outweighed her desires to Lunar Dragon Slayer, and besides she needed to find Aquarius, that was her number one priority.

Lucy sighed again, breaking out of her thoughts, and turned her attention back to the Poison Dragon Slayer, "I'm feeling like fish today, wanna see what we can catch in the sea?" she asked excitedly.

Erik chuckled at her excitement, he nodded his agreement and proceeded to try his best to distract her from any lonely or bitter thought from forming.

It was safe to say he succeeded as they laughed and challenged each other to see who can catch the most fish. It was also safe to say she won, when she used Aquarius magic to her benefit.

It had been one week since they embarked on their journey, Macbeth headed downstairs towards the kitchen for a snack after taking the first turn of refilling the sphere. He was feeling pretty exhausted, he felt like he needed a nap not out of laziness, but to replenish his magic. the serious spirit, who he forgot the name of, informed him that refilling the orb takes up more magic that combining their gates, which made sense since they couldn't just go back to the spirit world and replenish their energy.

Macbeth was not expecting to see the blonde summoner in the kitchen humming as she prepared dinner for them. Not surprisingly, she was the only one who didn't have the magic of being completely useless in the kitchen. He suddenly felt extremely awkward upon seeing her. He didn't have a problem with her when they were in a group together, but as soon as they were alone he would find a reason to bolt out of the room. No one could blame him, the last time he saw her was when he played with her feelings for her little sister to capture her and use her life force to end the world, on top of that he was the one who you could say killed said sister. However, he could not deny how calming and soothing her presence was, somehow her aura chased off any nightmares which was why he tried to nap as much as he could when they were all sitting together, trying to take advantage of the situation.

"Oh Macbeth! What are you doing down here? Dinner isn't ready yet," Lucy's gentle voice brought him out her thoughts.

"Sphere." he simply said, knowing she would understand what he meant. He was proven correct when she smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks for taking the first week! Virgo brought some bananas, you should eat one while I finish up dinner."

He grunted in acknowledgement and grabbed a banana off the table, before laying in the hammock in the corner that Erik installed to keep her company while she cooked.

He felt himself fall asleep but was jerked away from dozing off when he heard the blonde ask a question, "Was everything ok last night?" she asked hesitantly hoping she did not cross any lines.

Macbeth froze, last night was filled with nightmares from his not so happy childhood. No matter how old or how powerful he got, he was always haunted by those days. Not wanting her to feel guilty about anything he simply responded, "nightmares." He saw a look of understanding flash into her eyes before nodding, and returning to her work. Seeing as he already began talking to her, even though it was only two words, Macbeth did not want to waste the opportunity to try to mend things. They were probably going to see each other a lot and he did not want this awkwardness and tension to be between them forever. He tried to muster the courage to apologize, hoping that all the power he had would help him. However, all he could come up with was a very weak, "Sorry."

He hoped she would be able understand what he meant like she was able before, but instead she just looked confused. He sighed, he can't go back now, "I am sorry about Real Nightmare and…" he hesitated for a bit, he gulped, "about Michelle," he finished quietly.

Macbeth noticed Lucy had stopped stirring for a moment, but was shocked when he saw a little smile form on her face. She continued stirring before she replied, "while I don't appreciate being used as a sacrifice, the good you did outweighed that so thank you."

Macbeth sputtered, yes sputtered, he had never felt so confused in his life. Did she just thank him? Was she mentally ok? How the fuck can anyone see any good in that? Instead of voicing any of those questions, he could only let out a confused "h-huh?"

Lucy broke into laughter when she turned to look at his face, never did she ever think she would see such a stupefied expression on the normally stoic man's face. She tried to calm herself down, not wanting him to feel embarrassed, especially because it obviously took a lot out him to open up. She wiped a couple of tears from her eyes, and turned to obviously still bewildered man.

"Even though it was for evil purposes, you gave life to my little sister. I was able to make memories with her and experience how it is to actually have a sister, even though it was short lived. I came to peace with my childhood grief, and found closure with my father in a weird way. That's why it outweighs Real Nightmare. Real Nightmare failed, but my memories with Michelle did not. So, again thank you and if there's anything I can help you with let me know," she finished with a smile on her face.

'This woman could really find the best in situations and people huh,'Midnight thought. Suddenly, he thought of something that he could use to his advantage, "Actually there is something you can help me with." Lucy seemed to brighten with happiness at the thought of being able to help him, she nodded her head in eagerness. He let out a small chuckle.

"Sleep with me"

Macbeth never thought he would ever see a person's face actually become a tomato. He couldn't help but burst into laughter. He had to grab his sides from laughing so much, and he actually fell off the hammock. When he finally was able to gather his wits he stood up and saw a still blushing but amused blonde.

"Sorry, sorry, I should've been more clear. Just be in the same room, for some reason your aura fends off nightmares," Macbeth said in between chuckles.

Lucy smiled at him, "I've heard that from my team multiple times. It's no problem, I don't mind being bunk buddies, but I call dibs on top bunk!" Lucy finished her sentence childishly, and Macbeth rolled his eyes at the blonde.

He returned to the hammock, and decided that he was going to install one for himself. He closed his eyes and listened to her hum while she finished up dinner.

Jellal found himself watching the blonde on the top of the deck who was training with her spirits. Her magic was really fascinating, not only can she call the spirits of the stars to her side, but she could also take on their characteristics herself. Moreover, she could call upon her spirits weapons simply by using her keys. He watched as she battled with both Leo and Capricorn in her Cancer star dress. Just by watching her these past two weeks, he could tell she was working on shaping her own fighting style. She was also working on her stamina, fitness and magical container. It obviously has been paying off, she was barely breaking a sweat having both gold gates open and had been fighting them for the past two hours. He watched as she was finally pinned down by the smirking lion, she tried to break free but failed. "Ugh, fine, fine. I give" she whined and let out a pout. The lion chuckled before he let her free, she crossed her arms still pouting.

"Ah, come on princess, don't be a sour loser. You lasted 15 minutes longer in three short days against two spirits," the lion spirit said in his normal flirty tone.

"Lucy-sama. Meeeh think we should go over the fight now." Capricorn cut Loke off before he could continue with his teasing.

Jellal watched as Lucy became serious again and analyzed her spar with her spirits. After the serious discussion, she thanked her spirits with the warmest smile he has seen on the girl. He could see the love she had for them, and see the love they had for her as well. He wished he was as connected to his magic as the blonde was, but ever since the tower of heaven, he felt like he was unworthy to wield the magic of the stars.

Jellal saw Lucy looking up at the sky, watching the stars just beginning to show in the darkening sky. Right there he decided to get over his shyness and get to know the blonde more. I mean if someone like Macbeth can become closer to her in the past two weeks, surely she would give him a chance to be friends right? They were half way through their journey and he still hasn't had a real conversation with her, meanwhile Macbeth and Erik are basically at the cuddling stage of their friendships.

Mustering the courage he needed, he walked towards the blonde and when he got close to her, he noticed that she was playing with a red crystallized insignia that was attached to a soft chain. The insignia wasn't Fairy Tail's, not only was her insignia pink, but also the insignia was completely unfamiliar to him. Jellal broke out of his thoughts when he heard Lucy speak to him, acknowledging his presence.

"Oh Jellal! Hi! I almost didn't notice you there," Lucy said in a surprised tone as she looked up to him.

Jellal blushed a little, and scratched his head, not knowing how to start a deep conversation, he decided to take an alternative approach and hoped the more social adept blonde would help guide the conversation. "Hello Lucy, I just wanted to say again that I really appreciate all your help. I don't know what I could have done if you weren't in the village or if you weren't also going to Stella as well."

Lucy smiled softly at Jellal's words that almost sounded like a whisper, "Of course Jellal, we may not be as close but I never turn my back against nakama." Jellal could hear the small bitterness of her voice when she said the last part. He inwardly frowned, he knew it would be hypocritical for him to talk about betrayals and friendships, but he honestly thought Fairy Tail was better. That the honorable Erza Scarlet was better. That Natsu Dragneel, the one that almost killed him for trying to harm his friends, was better. Yet, here they were, Jellal having to comfort the blonde because of their betrayal.

Jellal sighed and plopped down next to the blonde who was trying to hide her hurt and sadness, he placed his hand on her hair and ruffled it. Ignoring her shocked face, he smiled at her, "I know it won't erase the past, or solve your problems, but I would be more than honored to get to know you more and be a person you can call a close friend in the future," chuckling a little at the blonde's widening eyes, he continued in a soft voice, "besides, I met future Lucy and if you're half of future you who was badass enough to time travel and protect the entire country, then I would be one of the luckiest people in all Earthland to be able to call you my nakama."

Lucy teared up a little. She respected the hell out of Jellal, not only because of his fight for redemption, but because of his magical power that she knows is on par with wizard saints. She giggled a little, "Thank you Jellal, and I would love to get to know you a little more. Besides we both wield the power of the stars, so we're basically family anyways!"

Jellal chuckled at her statement, "speaking of which, can you tell me more about your magic? Last time I saw it in use, you were only able to summon spirits and that was impressive as hell don't get me wrong, but now you can do so much more."

Lucy brightened at the chance to talk more about her magic, "Well after the whole Tartarus incident, I unlocked the opportunity to use Star Dress. It's the ability to incorporate a spirit's power into my own body, which results in a wardrobe change based on the spirit, it's kind of like requip! However, with some training I figured out another version of Star Dress, and it's called Key Extension. It's when I can change my key into a weapon that's based on the spirit itself. But, it can only be used with gold keys and unfortunately I haven't been able to master it with all of the zodiac. These two abilities are probably the newest thing I've developed since the GMG."

Jellal was more than impressed, Lucy expanded her magic to the point of changing from being more of a support type for her spirits, to a hands on mage to fight with her spirits. He knew unlike most celestial spirit mages, Lucy did not use her spirits as shields and would rather fight with them as she saw them as family and not tools, "I have feeling, you're working on other things too huh?" Jellal said in almost teasing tone.

Lucy blushed a little and nodded, "Not trying to hide it or anything, I just wanna be more advanced in them before adding them to my abilities. I found books in Mama's studies about caster spells I could learn, but it's going to take a while since I practiced holder magic all my life. Hibiki also helped me by using his archive magic and doing intense research with me to find the other lost spells, other than Urano Metria. So far I'm learning two more, but holy shit, it's going to take a lot of training to even try using them. I couldn't fully master Urano Metria until I opened my second origin. So far with the lost spells we found, I'm going to have to not only train my magic but also my body to withstand the intensity. So, Capricorn and Loke are both helping me to not only train my body but also develop a fighting style suited for me."

Jellal nodded at her explanation so far, he once again ruffled her hair gently and secretly took great amusement at her shocked face again, "Well, lucky for you my magic is basically the caster side of yours. Of course, it's not exactly the equivalent but it's close enough where I know I could help. On top of that, not to brag or anything, but I can say I am experienced with hand to hand combat and have also encountered a lot of styles so I can help with that too," Jellal saw that she was about to protest even though it was obvious it was out of insecurity rather than not wanting his help. He raised his hand to stop her from saying anything and offered a small smile, "Before you protest about being a bother or whatever comes into your mind, weren't you the one who said that our magic basically makes us family. Family helps each other right?"

Lucy widened her eyes before grinning with excitement, "Thank you! I would love your help…" Lucy smirked causing Jellal to tense a little, "Jellal-nii."

Jellal's face turned red like a tomato and Lucy busted out laughing. After a few moments he calmed down and joined her laughter. He was hoping for a friend out of her, but he didn't mind gaining a little sister instead.

A few moments later, the laughter died out and a comfortable silence took over them. Surprisingly, the ever so quiet young man was the one who broke it, inwardly he wondered with the heck did he become so talkative, "By the way Lucy, I know you said you got the rest of the zodiac, but what other keys do you have? I remember Erik asking us to keep a lookout for keys when we were on missions so he can bring them back to his kin."

Lucy brightened up, so bright that he felt like he saw her eyes twinkling like the stars she wielded. She requiped a ring of keys and Jellal's bulged on the amount on her ring, there had to be at least thirty keys, probably more. " Other than gaining the rest of the golf keys, I have 25 silver keys and 6 bronze ones!"

"Bronze keys?" Jellal asked confused as hell, he never heard anything about bronze, Lucy didn't seem surprised at his confusion, "Yup! They're known as Enhancer keys. They're super rare, not because of their power like the zodiac, but because of their purpose. You see bronze keys are the gates to spirits who don't have physical forms. So when you summon them, they are connected to their summoner and act as enhancers. The best way to explain it is that they connect to the summoner's soul, this makes the spirits a little picky on who gets to wield them. If they don't like your soul, they won't connect, but they also loved being binded to a summoner because that's how they can experience the world since they don't have physical forms. The six bronze keys I have are Corona Borealis, Corona Australis, Sextants, Reticulum, Scutum, and Circinus. Sextant helps me find other keys, that's how I found the keys of Argo! Circinius helps both Pyxis and Octant with pinpointing exact locations and navigation. Reticulum helps with eyesight, like being able to see in the dark, or seeing far away. However, if you've proven yourself to the spirit, they can become your eyesight in general. Corona Borealis and Corona Australis are supporters, the closest magic I can relate to when I use them, is Wendy's support enhancements. It makes more sense if you see me use them in battle. But, in summary bronze keys are enhancer spirits who don't have physical forms and need to be binded to a summoner's soul to be used."

Jellal blinked a couple of times before nodding, "I think I get the gist of it." Lucy smiled at him, her eyes still twinkling from talking about her magic. Jellal ruffled her hair again, ignoring her huff of frustration, "I also get the gist of how amazing you actually are," he chuckled at her blush, and before she could try to protest, "Lucy, you literally have contracts with 44 spirits, that's half of the Ecliptic spirits, spirits that are literally summoned from the stars!"

Jellal was expecting a blush or some denial of strength, what he wasn't expecting was for Lucy's smile to disappear and for her to look devastated and pained. "No, I only have 43…" she whispered sadly.

Jellal was more confused, he must have miscounted because he assumed that she had the 13th zodiac as well, "Oh, I thought when you said that you have the rest of the gold keys, that you have Ophiuchus as well, I'm sorry."

Lucy shook her head, still speaking in a sad whisper, "I do have Ophiuchus," she sighed heavily and tried to fight the tears that were threatening to fall, "unfortunately, I don't have Aquarius anymore."

That is when Jellal found out about her sacrifice to save the guild. No, her sacrifice for the world's fighting chance.

That is also when Jellal confusion towards Natsu's and Erza's actions turned into anger.

That is also when Jellal made a silent promise to himself that he would make sure that Lucy had the family she deserved, the family that did not leave her behind. After all, he was now family and he will not leave her behind. Ever.

"Lucy, I vow to you that I will do everything in my power to make sure you are reunited with Aquarius and that you never have to go through that again."

That is also when Jellal's serious moment was ruined by a monstrous roar. Both looked towards the roar and saw a five headed monster coming towards them, with the obvious intention of killing them.

Erik's shout of _what the fuck _was heard even with the roar and the storm that came out of nowhere raged around them.

What the fuck indeed.

***END***

_**I passed the 6,000 word count mark...**_

**Holy shit, this is probably the longest chapter I have ever written in my life. But, I wanted to establish relationships between Lucy and the three ex-bad guys. Honestly, I finished Erik and Macbeth's part really easily, Jellal's part took most of the time. I wanted to explain Lucy's abilities as if right now and before she arrives to Stella. I also wanted to introduce my version of her magic. I hope Key Extension and the Bronze Keys explanations make sense. I can't wait to show more of Lucy's magic! And we're half through the journey to Stella!**

**Next chapter is the second half of the journey and the one filled with action. It's also the last one before we get to Stella and I finally get to introduce to you my version of Stella and my babies! Btw, Cristoff Pradesh is Desna's creation from her expanded universe of Bosco! Y'all should check the Pradesh fam out, I am sure you will love them as much as I do, and they will be appearing later in the fic as well! **

**Hope y'all liked the chapter and please tell me what y'all think!**

**Love, **

**~Lala**


End file.
